Japan’s tourism board has urged holidaymakers to swap Tokyo and Kyoto for towns in Tohoku and Kanazawa as Australian tourists flood Japan’s cities in record numbers.
About 807,800 Australians visited Japan between January and November this year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous record in 2019, according to provisional estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
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The top-three destinations of Australian tourists were Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, the travel booking company Flight Centre found. Australians were among the longest-staying visitors to Japan, JNTO said.
But Japan has struggled with the post-pandemic return of swarming crowds, with Naoki Kitazawa, the executive director of JNTO’s branch in Sydney, urging tourists to move out of the major cities and travel into rural towns.
“We strongly encourage Australians to consider lesser-known destinations,” he said.
“Travelling responsibly is more important than ever, especially in popular destinations where the impact of tourism can put pressure on local communities.”
The boom is set to continue with Australian bookings for Japan in the first three months of 2025 up by a fifth compared to 2024, according to Flight Centre.
One of those travellers, architecture student Josh Khochaiche, will leave Sydney on Saturday to study and sightsee in the major cities for three-and-a-half weeks, though he is sensitive to locals’ calls for better behaviour from tourists.
“We love [Japan] as much as I’m sure the people themselves love it, so we want to try and be as respectful about it as possible,” he said
A fan of Japanese carpentry, pop culture and food, Khochaiche jumped at the chance to visit, not least because of a strong exchange rate between the Australian dollar and the Japanese yen.
“If you’re going out [to eat], it’s $15 to $20, and in comparison to Australia, that’s exquisite,” he said.
One Australian dollar on Thursday was worth 97 yen, near the level it has hovered at since mid-2023, despite the dollar losing value against the US dollar and other currencies in recent months.
That strong exchange rate has seen demand grow so high that in December, Australian travel agency Japan Holidays had to temporarily stop taking new inquiries, the company’s general manager, Judy Luxton, said.
‘Really tap into the culture of Japan’
But as the overcrowding worsens, Luxton has increasingly encouraged customers to escape the cities and look at smaller areas.
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“The numbers are hideous and it’s not serene when you have that many people, so a lot of our tours now are giving them all the [great Japanese] experiences but trying to avoid the peak tourist spots,” she said.
Taking warnings of overtourism to heart, Khochaiche will spend some time in Naoshima, an island known for its art and architecture, and has already begun planning a return trip with his girlfriend for 2027.
“We would go to calmer rural villages, try the food, just immerse ourselves, [see] the temples that are a bit off the beaten track,” he said. “There’s just so many things to do.”
That approach has long been favoured by Stuart McIntosh, a resident of Beechworth, Victoria, who has visited Japan regularly since 2012 but spent only a handful of nights in Tokyo.
“We’ve almost been involved in a crowd crush … jam-packed, people fainting, and having to duck into shops and doorways to sort of make your way through,” he said.
McIntosh and his family have instead holidayed in the northern prefectures of Tohoku and Hokkaido, where they have explored the towns and gone skiing for less than A$40 a day each.
“All the temples are there, all the cherry blossoms are there, all the retail shops are there, the sushi, the onsen, it’s all there – but just with a fraction of the crowds,” McIntosh said.
“That’s where you can often really tap into the culture of Japan, the friendliness of the people.”
JNTO’s Kitazawa is hoping Australians will keep that lesson in mind as they travel, discovering new corners of the country while helping prevent over-tourism.
“Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Golden Route offer incredible experiences, but there’s so much more to discover beyond the obvious and what’s trending,” he said.
Source: theguardian.com
